Nyeh

What's up, Isaac Merlo.

"Primarily." He said simply. "But it's also for anyone who can benefit from it."

Just so happened that his wish to help a friend would benefit the rest of the world.

It was good to see Isaac just as eager as Doug to break every law of ethics out there.

Nothing like an eager, willing guinea spoink— er, collaborator, to really push forward the field of Medicine.

"We'll get around to that later." He promised the other, before shoving his chest back onto the bed. "For now— let's deputrify your guts."

Not quite what was actually putrid, but he got the gist of it.

Doug nodded to his Orbeetle, who turned his gaze over to Isaac, beginning its hypnosis.

"I'll be opening ya up to take a look around in yer innards for a couple of hours." He said to the other young man... perhaps a little belatedly. "I'll let'cha know how it goes when yer up."

His hand slowly raised, waving at Isaac.

"Nighty night!"

Nyeh

What's up, Isaac Merlo.

He watched Isaac pass out with a hopefully confidence instilling, not terrifying smile on his face.

The moment the former blonde was out like a light, however, it vanished, his lip curling as he rubbed at the back of his neck.

"... Garo, seal the door." He ordered, prompting the Orbeetle to shift the visitor's couch in front of it. "Soundproof the room too. I don't need distractions right now."

As Garo went about that, Doug discarded his jacket, throwing it away before fetching a brand new pair of disposable gloves. Then, he reached into his bag for a hairnet and a facemask.

"Sanitize me."

To be clear— Doug had no idea of what exactly he would need to do once he opened up Isaac. A body that was putrefying from the inside, but was still alive... what the hell was that about? Every day, avatar powers became more ridiculous.

He had an inkling of an idea of how to approach it. He had believed Isaac's eye would be the first test run of the Body Restoration Procedure he had developed in Galar... but it would be his putrid innards instead.

"Well, if it works here, it'll work anywhere." He grumbled, tugging at his neck. as he grabbed several other pokeballs.

Soon, the entire room was filled to the brim with Orbeetles.

"You. Keep a read on his vitals." He said, pointing at one. "You, full body scan at all times. You, use the smartphone and film—"

One by one, each Orbeetle was assigned a task.

"Garo. You compile, assemble and distribute all the information everyone else has gathered as needed. You and I will need to pour into written and digitized form later." He wasn't about to depend on his brain to somehow make sense of everything.

He had super computer bug scanners with him and the perfect subject— he was going make a magnum opus out of this.

"Had to be an avatar too..." He muttered, scratching at the side of his head as he prepared for work.

Reaching into his bag for a military recorder, he set it on the bedside table, starting it up.

"Audio log entry 102, Date: ———, —————, 2023. Dr. John Douglas Sullivan speaking: First Vivisection of an avatar—"

FERNANDO SILPH better not ask him for anything more ever again.

Nyeh

What's up, Isaac Merlo.

"Audio log entry 102. Video log entry 001. Date: ———, —————, 2023. Dr. John Douglas Sullivan speakingz. Title: Human & Avatar vivisection, Surgical Removal... and Repair of dead tissue and organs... Uh, procedure Documentation."

Longest, most inelegant name to a procedure ever. Uh... he would fix it in post?

"Patient's name, Isaac Merlo. Age, uh... 20 to 25, by my estimate." Even as he spoke, his arms never stopped working, and neither did the Orbeetles around him, fleeting about as they worked. "Gender... he presents as male, and—"

Rustle rustle.

"Yup, has genitals of the male sex as well." He said simply. He went back to work. "Medical history— eh. I'll adjunct the papers to the recordings when we're don— whu?"

Doug hadn't realized he had a live audience until he noticed the mist pooled around his ankles, focused as he was in the process. Once he did, however, he couldn't help but raise his gaze.

And find himself looking into glowing eyes in the mist, freezing in place.

Goosebumps rose along his skin almost immediately, the weight of his shoulders suddenly a lot greater. They shuddered as he slammed his teeth down on his tongue, preventing himself from yelping in shock.

"Jjjeez!" He said instead, wrenching his gaze away from his audience to go back to work. "Uurgh... Erm, sidenote, it appears I've garnered the rather humbling audience of... Suicune... Maybe...?"

Beat.

In a less surprised, more annoyed tone.

"And Tapu Lele."

Hovering besides the less than familiar silhouette in the mist was an entirely too familiar one. After a moment, it held out a handful of raisins towards the other.

"Just... peachy." He grumbled.

Here he had hoped his first Live surgical procedure back in Hoenn would be before colleagues and peers.

Whatever.

"Moving on. Next— Procedure. I'll begin with an Exploratory Laparotomy—"

Nyeh

What's up, Isaac Merlo.

"Date of the procedure, __ of ____, twenty-twenty-three." He went on as he picked up the scalpel. "The time of day is two twenty-seven p.m."

As Suicune and Tapu Lele settled inside the room, the surgeon at work did not spare them even a glance. His earlier acknowledgment was all they would get until he finished the procedure.

"Lead surgeon of the procedure, John Sullivan. Assistant Surgeon, none. Anesthesiologist, Orbeetle Platoon Leader Garo-Alpha.
Scrub nurses, Orbeetle Platoon members Beta, Gamma, Theta—"

As he dutifully named each and every Orbeetle in the platoon, a magenta glow slid over his scalpel's edge.

"Procedure summary... In progress. I'll be going over the procedure step by step in this recording."

Bringing the scalpel to Isaac's sternum, its edge bit into skin and muscle, splitting.

"I'll begin the laparatomy with a vertical incision along the midline of the patient's abdomen." He said.

With a firm, steady hand, he slid the blade down the midline of the blonde's abdomen.

"Through fine application of Tapu Lele's scales on my tools , I can create incisions while maintaining hemostasis throughout the procedure."

As the incision was made, no blood spilled from the gaping hole created.

"Retractors." He requested, the tool in question quickly finding its way to his hand, the scalpel floating away in his Orbeetle's psychic grip. "I believe I don't need to explain what these are for to medical personnel, but for the laymen observing: These are self-retaining retractors, and they're utilized to hold the edges of the incision open for better visibility."

A large incision stretching from Isaac's sternum to his pubic bone had been created. And as it was gripped with rakes and hooks to stretch it open...

"... Avatars really make no damn sense." He grunted. "Severe ischemic necrosis palpable on the heart, lungs, intestines—"

This was gonna be a long one...

Hopefully, Suicune didn't dislike the sight of its chosen's intestines out in the open.

Nyeh

What's up, Isaac Merlo.

"Heart, Liver, stomach, small and large intestine, Left Kidney, Pancreas..." He continued to list each organ examined by the Orbeetle MRI's, his words slowing down briefly as he took in a deep breath.

"... Hooo.... Really feelin' the pressure today." Doug muttered cluelessly as his Orbeetles swiped away beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

The time would come when Doug solicited Isaac's services —get your head out of the gutter— but here and now, he needed to get this done on his own if possible.

Fix Isaac Merlo's innards, document everything regarding the avatar's body— and prove the efficacy of his procedure. There were many interests and goals at play here.

"Beta, prep the MRI's for telepathy. Gamma, link us up." He ordered. "Heart first."

Briefly, his hands ceased movement as his Orbeetles worked in tandem to pass on diagnostic imaging, starting with the heart. The full extent of ischemic necrosis with Isaac's blood pump spread out before the surgeon's mind's eye, his lips twitching up.

"Hn... Superficial?" He said with a cock of the head. "... Well, nothing about this is normal to begin with."

He could hypothesize after.

"I'll be treating the heart first. I don't have a surgical saw with methough, so..." Rather efficiently, the surgeon snapped his fingers. "Garo, Omega. Sternotomy."

The father and daughter duo shared a glance as their mind's came together, focusing their psychic power on Isaac's sternum. The hyper focused psychic energy carefully pried the man's rib cage open, snapping the ribs on one side to grant access. The psychic energy was then used to pry the ribcage apart, allowing clear access to the heart.

Slowly, Doug brought his scalpel closer to the heart, taking in a deep breath.

"Just... don't touch the myocardium." He reminded himself. "... Too much."

The process wasn't too different for coronary arteries nor the the rest of the organs. He would link up the MRI's with his mind, make the necessary incisions to gain access to the organ, and then methodically remove the layers of necrotic tissue using his scalpel.

Before long, he had gathered an unhealthy amount of necrotic tissue on Isaac's night stand (very valuable material).

That was, against all odds, the easy part.

The real test of his procedure began now.

Slowly, Doug raised his hand in the air, glowing pink dandruff rising from his palms.

"Now... beginning the tissue regeneration procedure."

---

Feel free to timeskip to Isaac waking up, Wanderer!

Nyeh

What's up, Isaac Merlo.

Doug was staring at a camera when Isaac came to himself, occasionally glancing back to the other man whilst squinting.

"_{—protracted, delayed hypertrophy induced by—}" He could be briefly heard muttering into his recorder, his motormouth voicing his thoughts as he worked to deduce the many chemical and biological mechanisms that had been involved in Isaac's miraculous hyper recovery.

Avatar powers could be considered magic, but they generally interacted with entirely normal human bodies. Specially the likes of healing abilities, though the catalyst was 'magic', the fact that chemical and biological reactions were occurring was undeniable.

At Isaac's slurring, the medic snapped out of his thoughts, clicking on his recorder as he turned to the other man.

"Because I am amazing at my job." He boasted bluntly, pulling up a seat near the bed.

Mercifully for Isaac, all the excess, putrid tissue that had been carved out of him had been stored away, and the room had been aired out and re-sanitized by the Orbeetles.

"I think." He said after a moment. "Still workin' it out, but I think it's a pretty good hypothesis in the meanwhile."

Humility aside.

"Procedure was a success, by the way." He scratched at his cheek, looking over Isaac's bulked up form. "... More than a success, really. Garo? Mirror."

A mirror was fetched from the surgeon's bag, hovered before Isaac for the man to see.

"Ya sure are lucky. Life saving and cosmetic surgery all-in-one for free." He snorted with a smirk, dropping his chin atop his palm. "How ya feelin', big guy?"

---

Feel free to timeskip to Isaac waking up, Wanderer!